Counterspy ( Playstation 3/4/Vita & IOS: 2014 )

As of late Playstation plus has given me no end of pretty decent titles to play on both the consoles and the Vita and this month has been no exception with titles like Valiant Hearts, OlliOlli 2 and a particularly interesting title called Counterspy. Counterspy is a stealth orientated 2.5D Sidescrolling game not dissimilar too much to the original Metal Gear titles in that you have to go through a number of levels while trying to remain undetected while aiming for the highest score.

Counterspy was developed by Dynamighty, a San Franciso based company founded in 2011 and comprised of a few ex-Lucasarts and even Pixar employees. Now while these developers consider themselves 'indie' they did receive some help from SCE Foster City Studios who had worked on more well known titles such as Uncharted and Infamous. Dynamighty state they focus primarily on action based games for both the console and mobile platform with Counterspy being their first title released. Counterspy was released in August 2014 on both the Playstaion 3, 4 and Vita with cross buy/play functionality and met with generally neutral reviews.

There was a later IOS version released a month later which I have not personally played, but from what I have seen it does seem to be pretty much the same core gameplay as its Playstation counter part. Now I generally enjoyed this game for what it was, but it was not an amazing title that I would go out of my way to recommend to just anybody. There are however aspects of the game I really enjoyed, so let me try and explain why I stuck with this game until the end.

In terms of the story of the game it is nothing amazing and honestly I feel like it could have been ignored entirely. You play as an agent working for C.O.U.N.T.E.R, a group who want to prevent the two unnamed superpowers who both seem to be modelled after Russia from launching nukes on the Moon and causing it to crash into the Earth. It's up to you to infiltrate either of the superpowers bases and retrieve information on when and where the nukes will be launched while keeping the defcon level of each country as low as possible.

The only story interaction you get in the game is before and after every level in which you have a briefing with C.O.U.N.T.E.R in a fashion similar to the codec conversations found in Metal Gear. While these are used primarily to explain each step of the process in stopping the superpowers they do attempt to throw in a lot of humour which did make me laugh a number of times but also fell flat at others, however I think the use of humour benefited an otherwise pretty generic storyline and enhanced it sightly.

Now the gameplay itself is what I believe is one of the games biggest strengths because it takes the pretty simple concept of a sidescroller but adds some neat stealth aspects to it. Your objective is to find the hidden blueprints within each level, however some levels may have less blueprints but more upgrades for yourself and vice versa, what is also interesting is every time you back out and retry a level its layout will be slightly different.

You need to have 5 parts of the currently assigned blueprints in order to progress, once you obtain these you must then do it 5 more times obtaining 5 blueprints in total, this leads you to the final level, naturally the difficulty does ramp up each time however I personally did not feel a difficulty change until the last few levels of the game. To progress through levels you typically make use of a sneaking function by lightly tapping the directional buttons so not to make a sound and avoid the enemies. While progressing you will be looking out for upgrades, health, ammo and blue prints, most of which can be found in lockers or computers.
 
The use of these upgrades is quite useful as it's not really health based but weapon and gameplay based, for example it allows you to unlock a tranquillizer or a shotgun, which is useful as you have four slots for weapons, or you could unlock an ability which gives you one less defcon level at the start of the stage or even the ability to run and not have your footsteps heard. These abilities however only have a one time use per payment, but you can use up to three a stage which really helps during the final level.

Now you have a few ways in which you can tackle a level, you can either try your best to not be seen and stealth the entire thing by hiding and using a silenced weapon and takedowns, or you can just take out an enemy as you see fit without dying. Regardless of how you play if you do manage to get seen an enemy may begin to call in that you have infiltrated the vicinity, the longer they call the higher the defcon level will be. This means if you go past defcon 1 then you have 50 seconds to reach the end of the stage.

The interesting thing about the defcon counter is that it carries over each level of that respective superpower, so you could be at defcon 1 (the highest) with one side but defcon 5 (the lowest) with another. If you do want to lower a defcon level however you must be in a room with an officer (who wears white) and kill every enemy but them making them surrender, this will bring you defcon level down by 1 each time so is it paramount that you do NOT kill an officer if you want to do well.

The best way to actually fight back with the enemy is to hide behind pillars and ramps which allow you to be in cover and aim you weapon for safety, as you can die relatively quickly in this game you'll be using this tactic the most, especially when faced with rocket wielding enemies whose rockets you can shoot as they move slow enough to give you time to think.

While the game is a single player experience only it does make use of leaderboards in which you can check your overall score with your friends and the world, what I thought made this games use of leaderboards interesting however was that if you beat the score of the person directly above you on the board then their 'agent' would be dead somewhere within the next level for you to find. While they were sometimes easier to find than others if you did locate them you would gain a small bonus for that level.

While this did add some replayabilty to the game for those who want to go back and beat a friends score it does not help the overall issue for some which is the general length of the game. Being that this is an 'indie' title I personally did not expect it to be a long experience, which was good because I beat this game in two sittings coming up to about 2 and a half hours. This was with me having difficulty on the last level because I was pretty terrible at it and with me searching pretty much every nook and cranny of a level for upgrades.

Now do I think this is a problem for the game itself? No because this game focuses on a repetitive nature which kind of puts you off playing for a long stretch of time, it also is avalible on the Vita which means if you're the type to play this on a commute or something you don't really want a game with long levels and hours of gameplay. I actually find the length of the game fine in that respect, yes it could have been a little longer but depending on who you are and what you're playing it on it may actually benefit you, especially if like me you got this for "free" on Playstation plus.

Another plus for me would be both the art style and music used in the game, now with ex-Pixar staff working with the team you can see why the art is just so great to look at, it really conveys this dark and sombre tone to the industrialised look of a secret base like you'd see in an old spy movie. The only real bright colours you actually do see are on the screens or propaganda posters seen throughout the levels, which I feel works really well as it juxtaposes the dull colours surrounding it and quickly draws your attention.

The music, while not overpowering is pretty good as it again feels like it belongs in an old spy movie, it generally feels like it belongs in a James Bond theme with its use of the Bass and Trumpets in the background as you sneak.

While the AI in this game is pretty simplistic in that they follow a general walking pattern across the level and just duck and shoot at you there are some frustrating moments when they decide to hide in a corner of the level you just cannot reach as there is no pillar to crouch behind that allows you to face them, which would be fine as you could just lure them out. However the a problem arises when they begin the call in that they have seen an enemy, and with no way to stop them you'll pretty quickly get your defcon level raised substantially.

While this only happened a few times to my I have seen quite a few complaints about it online so it does not seem like something they decided to patch out or perhaps are even aware of, other than this small problem and the general basic AI there are no real problems with the game glitch wise which is a plus.

Overall I feel like this game was great in the sense it was a short enjoyable ride, however I think if it were any longer I would quickly become bored, I feel if there were to be a sequel to this title the developers would have to add enough new or expanded upon content to keep it fresh. The core gameplay is great and the use of leaderboards is a step in the right direction without the game having an unnecessary multiplayer mode.

I personally played this on the Playstation 4 but I feel as though it would have been better suited to my Vita because of its length. I think if you're looking for something new and short to play on a commute to work or on a plane ride this game would be perfect, you'll probably complete it during the trip or at least on your return but honestly I think those kind of games work really well on the Vita, because y'know it's a portable console.

I would highly recommend picking this up on PS+ while you can or if you see it for a cheap price sometime but I would not say it is a essential title for a Sony console in any way, but it is a nice short and refreshing take on the stealth genre and makes for a nice time sink in between other titles.

As always thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it.

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker ( Wii U: 2014)

This week I took a look at a relatively new Wii U title, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, a puzzle spin off of the Super Mario 3D World series which featured Captain Toad levels as a mini game segment.
This title was announced at E3 2014 and later released toward the end of that same year, developed by Nintendo EAD Software Development Group 2, it was clear this title would purely be an expansion on the mini game we were familiar with in 3D World.

Although these segments in 3D World were not popular with everyone I felt they broke up the game slightly with more or less optional levels which made use of the game pads control scheme, such as the ability to change your perspective via turning the pad left to right. I found them to be quite enjoyable and when I heard they would be making an expanded title for a cheaper price I knew I would pick it up eventually.

Perhaps this was due to my affinity for theWorld series, as I was never really in to Mario at all before I got a 3DS and played 3D Land. Before that I had only played the original Land on my Gameboy Pocket as a child and the odd kart game with friends. Playing the 3DS title really opened my eyes to how fun Mario games could be, so I began to go back and play the NES and SNES titles on the virtual console.

It's fair to say I still have a lot to catch up on but with the release of World on Wii U I had found one of my games of the year for that year. Perhaps the reason I purchased Captain Toad was to hope to continue that same enjoyment all over again. But how does this title hold up to the likes of its predecessors?

In terms of story like much of the Mario franchise it is nothing to write home about, we follow treasure hunter Captain Toad and Toadette as they search for gold stars across the world only to eventually have Toadette captured by an enemy who also covets the stars. What is funny however is that the only reason Toadette was captured was because she wouldn't let go of the damn star... So it's then up to you to rescue her and collect as much treasure as you can along the way, simple stuff!

In terms of gameplay what we have is an expansion upon what we have seen within the Toad mini game segments of World in that you control Toad in a very small stage as you make your way to the golden star. In order to reach the star you must traverse through multiple puzzles that usually incorporate the features of the game pad in some form. For example you may not be able to see much of the stage without first turning the game pad left or right (or using the right stick), you may also come across certain blocks you must control via the use of touch features or even platforms that can only be moved by blowing on the mic.

There are a number of enemies who can appear within stages, primarily Shyguys who you can either sneak past, attempt to fall on them from a great height as Toad cannot jump or grab a turnip from a root sticking out of the ground and use it as a weapon. These turnips can also prove quite useful in obtaining items you otherwise would not be able to reach such as collectables as whatever the turnip touches like coins, you will then obtain it.

A difference added to this title is the inclusion of the three diamonds hidden within every level. These items become necessary as they accumulate in order to unlock further levels within the game, however if you were to collect all of them you would not gain any kind of completion bonus. While these stages are small they can become rather challenging if you are attempting to collect every item within them as the game goes on. The game like most Mario titles does start off rather easy and some may argue it stays that way but personally I have found myself scratching my head at some stages as I tried to figure out how I would obtain each diamond.

While the majority of the gameplay is the same as its mini game predecessor there are stages in which we do see a change, such as the mine-cart centric levels which turn the game in to an on rails shooter where you shoot turnips via the game pad camera at enemies, coins and diamonds. While these levels are few and far between they are quite fun and I would like to see more in a future title, hopefully they would also improve the length of these levels too as they did tend to end rather quickly.

There are also "boss" levels to an extent where you will have a large enemy on screen at all times who follows a specific pattern that will hinder your ability to progress through the level, other than that they remain the same as the standard levels with the same goals and collectables. While these were quite fun they did tend to reuse the same enemy a few times, however the battle against the "antagonist" of the game was quite cool to me as she would constantly blow wind from different directions which would move platforms as well as yourself which added a new challenge to getting all the diamonds.

The game breaks itself in to three books or episodes each containing around 20 or more levels, which initially confused me as I came to the end of book one and thought  had finished the entire game as the credits began to role. Episode two has you play as Toadette, which does not add anything gameplay wise but is a nice change, although literally the same events have happened where the Bird has come yet again to take your star and this time Toad is the one who refused to let go....

The game is honestly a very simplistic one, but this is not to say it is a bad game in anyway, it is accessible for all ages as you would expect from a first party Nintendo title, it is also a great game for those who just want to do maybe 3 or 4 levels and then move on to something else as you will be done in no time at all. While overall the game is short in that respect and does not have much replayablity I think Nintendo made up for this by giving it a cheaper retail price, although my local 'GAME' store in the UK thought £40, which is the price of a full release game was perfectly fine.

The visuals in the game are beautiful just like World, with the bright colours and interesting level layouts which follow that of World with its move from grasslands to desserts and water based levels.
The designs of these levels are really where the game shines visually as they start of simple and then become more complex. Each level seems to use some assets from World yet uses them in a unique puzzle based way rather than a platformer to keep them fresh.

A particular favourite level of mine is the snow train level pictured above in which the entire level places you on a moving train as you proceed through each cart and back again with a comfortable backing track. While this level is incredibly easy and does not really feature much in the way of puzzles I can only describe it as comfy level because it's just relaxing to look at and be in. I could say that for a lot of the levels in this game and the same can be said for World, it's just pretty to look at and makes you yearn for a Wii U Mario title akin to 64 or Galaxy with visuals like this.

What I found to be a neat little bonus was the addition of a few 3D World levels if the game detected a save from that title on your console. These stages are available to you right from the get go and are pretty much just the exact same World levels with the omission of the collection of three diamonds and the only goal being to move through the level as Toad and get the green star.

There was a side objective to the levels in which you would need to locate a golden mushroom on each stage but there was no real need to do this unless you are a completionist as it does not add anything to the game itself. Although I personally enjoyed this little bonus it may not be for everyone, many dislike the fact that it is literally just a handful of World levels with no real differences, but for something added to the game for free I could not really complain.

It is a shame there is no multiplayer aspect to this game as I feel it would not hurt to have some co op based puzzles although that may be something they were saving for a future title, or perhaps they wanted to stick to the single player experience as the game is only short. Regardless I feel they could make some interesting levels out of a multiplayer format even if you could argue the use of the cherry item creating clones of yourself is pretty much a two person puzzle experience and more challenging than a multiplayer one.

Interestingly Nintendo have stated they would like to do more first party titles like this where they are shorter and simpler games and if this title is anything to go by then hopefully they can pull through and create some really interesting games at a cheaper price. Perhaps this would be the gateway to incorporate older franchises into the mainstream once again such as Mach Rider, whatever they do I am interested to see it.

Overall this game is fantastic and there is not much I can really complain about other than the length and difficulty of the game, but I feel that is to be expected with a cheaper spin off title like this, especially since it was based off a mini game from another title. I really would recommend picking this up if you did enjoy those segments from 3D World, even if you're not sure on paying so much for a shorter title such as this I think if you ever see it on sale it will be more than worth it for sure.

It really is the perfect game to play just to break up the longer titles you may be playing or even if you've just got a half hour to spare. I do feel as though Nintendo could have added some DLC levels for some form of replayabilty but they still have time to do this, or perhaps they are saving them for a sequel. Perhaps a 3DS title would work better for those who just want a shorter game to play on their commute to work, regardless I would love to see this series expanded upon and do not regret purchasing this game at all, you really should check it out.

Transistor (Playstation 4: 2014)

This week for a change of pace I take a look at a game I recently got from Playstation Plus, Transistor. Transistor is Sci-Fi based Action RPG from Supergiant Games, a studio created in 2009 who are well known for their work on the similar game, Bastion. Transistor was released in May of 2014 for both Playstation 4 and the PC, it met with pretty favourable reviews online and was even nominated in a few categories at the Game Awards and IGN's best of 2014 awards. At the time of writing this I have just completed the game myself. I truly enjoyed myself with this title and I can see why it was nominated for a number of awards. So let's try and explain exactly what it is I enjoy about this game and why.

It would be best to start with the plot, now I don't really want to spoil the plot for this game but the general outline of it is that you wake up as a woman who goes by the name of Red in a city called Cloudbank, Red was a famous singer within the city who had been a victim of the 'process', a machine like enemy controlled by a group named the Camerata. Red wakes up within the city unable to speak and soon comes into the possession of a giant sword like weapon called a transistor.

The transistor is embedded into the corpse of an unknown man who seems to have been close to Red, as Red begins to use the sword she comes to realise the soul of this man is now a part of the weapon and does the talking for her while the Camerata begin to hunt them down for an unknown purpose. I really enjoyed the setting for this game as it kept with the post 'end of the world' type scenario we've seen in Bastion but updated it to a industrial almost cyberpunk style future, full of sky scrapers and more.

The setting almost feels like a more cyberpunk styled Coruscant from Starwars, but it does not always stick to this theme, there are certain areas within the game that are almost like a mini hub world for the player where you can practice your skills and take part in challenges, this Hub takes the form of a small personal island complete with hammock and beach ball. I think this works really well as it really does juxtapose the tall buildings to a more relaxing area that makes you as the player feel like you can just chill out for a few moments before heading back to the action.

There are only about four or so characters in this game with two of them being the main focus, those are the protagonists Red, who as you may of guessed is the red headed women we play as and her sword the transistor, although we never hear Red speak until the end of the game her characterisation works really well, what I particularly enjoyed was the only way we can actually see what she is thinking is when she comes across a terminal and uses the response feature to type out what she would like to say to the transistor.

The transistor itself is what really steals the show however, just by having an inanimate object be your main point of contact for the entire game worked really well for me as you slowly begin to piece together who he may be in relation to Red and how and why he became stuck within the transistor itself. I feel as though this game used these characters well in the short space of time in which it takes to finish the game.

In terms of gameplay the game actually starts out quite simply and slowly becomes more complex as you begins to unlock new abilities. The main focus of the game is to battle small waves of enemies as you progress. To do this you primarily use your transistor, however the battle system allows for you not only to slow down time which depletes with the more moves you use but also to customise your move set as you begin to level up.

This is done by using functions which come every time you level up, a function can be an ability that will harm the enemy or in rare cases be one that helps the player for example one function allows the player to use a short dash in order to escape combat. The complexity comes when you add a function as an enhancer to another, with one example being the Spark function which is a wide area attack on its own, but if you were to add that to another function it would enhance that functions area of attack without changing how that attack works.

For those who like an added challenge there are also functions known as limiters which unlock in the same way but are optional. These work as a limit on you as the player in a multitude of ways such as your ability to recover you action bar after depleting it, but while doing this is multiplies your experience thus allowing you to level up quicker. What I like about these is they are not necessary if you just want to breeze through the game. I believe this system puts a nice complex spin on the system we're perhaps used to in games like Bastion and really defines the genre.

A quite neat feature I enjoyed on the Playstation 4 version of the game was the use of the controllers light source on the back flashing in unison with the transistor when it spoke to you, although it was not really a necessary edition to the game overall it was quite interesting for me as a player as it was almost like 'yeah the transistor is my tool as is the controller, so they are one in the same'. It may have been more interesting to those viewing the player however as my mum, who hasn't played a video game since Columns on the Sega Megadrive (Genesis) kept commenting on it say how cool it looked to her.

The art style of this game is truly amazing, if you're familiar with Bastion you'll know the style in the Supergiant Games tends to follow a colourful almost painting like ascetic where both the player and the scenery look at though they belong together at all time's much like that of a painting. Transistor continues this aesthetic but rather than the vibrant colours of greens and reds, this game focus' more on lighting with darker shades of yellows, golds and browns to show the lower areas of the city, such as alley ways etc.

The game also makes use of harsh whites and blues in order to present the more open areas that have not had their light sources engulfed by the huge buildings of the city, this is what I mean by the cyberpunk style, in that although it doesn't really focus on too much neon like purples or greens it uses the blue to almost make it seem like a natural light source on things like windows and signs. Whatever it is I think it works really well and kind of gives off this cyberpunk vibe while at the same time by using golds and browns on the lower sections it makes it seem as though the city is a miss mash of a lot of different elements, making it have a quite original feel to it.

The interesting thing about Supergiant Games is that they have a huge focus on voice acting yet at the same time there is only a minuscule amount of characters or entities that do actually talk. In Bastion it was the Narrator who would pretty much describe what the player was doing as they did it as well as give us the plot of the game. In Transistor it works very much in the same way, as Red has lost her voice it is down to the Transistor itself to talk for her.

This works not by describing what she is doing or thinking but just by commenting on the world around you and what the transistor personally thinks, for example if you were to constantly use the same attack to beat an enemy the transistor would comment something akin to 'well... that works'. I feel like this worked really well as it didn't need to give us the story it kind of left us in the dark a little just like how the characters would feel at the time.

The voice actor for the Transistor, Logan Cunningham is fantastic, he has worked with Supergiant Games previously as he actually voiced the narrator of Bastion, yet he brings something new to the table with his often franc and sarcastic character, rather than give an old town prospector sort of vibe that we're used to in Bastion. I believe he was chosen again in this game as his voice talents practically lead the "cast" of Bastion. Again his role in this title is very similar to the former but his ability to lead the game in a different tone is note worthy.

Music is also a huge factor in their games and this title is no different, Darren Korb returns to compose the soundtrack as well as vocalist Ashley Lynn Barrett for a number of songs. Korb described the genre as "Old-world Electronic Post-rock", which really seems to fit the style and setting of the game, I'm not a musician myself but the use of the pianos and electric guitars really seemed to work both when inside and outside of combat. The entire soundtrack was uploaded to Youtube by the developers so if you're interested I would really suggest giving some tracks a listen.

In terms of length this game is not particularly long, it should not take you any longer than around 3 to 4 hours depending on if you're the type to do the challenge missions or not. In that respect it makes for a great game to get in to as you wait for bigger longer titles to come out, it also works out great for someone like me who does not really have the time to sit down and be super invested in a game anymore.

It does have a replayability aspect however in that the original ending is sort of left open and the games trophies entice you to replay with a gold trophy for doing so, I don't believe this adds anything to the game story wise, but it will definitely be something I get around to eventually, if only just to try out a few more of the huge variety of weapon combinations and perhaps eventually platinum the game.

Throughout this review I've mentioned Bastion and the similarities it shares with this game, I really enjoyed both titles and look forward to what Supergiant Games comes up with next, but the question remains which titles do I prefer? This is a pretty tough question as each title has aspects I enjoy more than the other and vice versa. Overall I think I enjoyed Bastion more, because if was the first title I played and had a more interesting story than Transistor did, I felt the use of the narrator telling this story to the player also worked much better than in this title.

However I think in terms of gameplay, replayability and score, this title works much better. The ability to customise your moveset to such a degree keeps what could be classed as repetitive gameplay fresher, it also entices the player to come back for a second playthrough by unlocking new abilities and therefore new customisations. I feel like the music made this title perfectly mixed the feelings of loneliness in a post catastrophe hit world with the sort of cyberpunk theme and felt sombre at times while quickly picking up the pace to make the player ready for a battle.

This is not to say that Bastion should be skipped out by any means, in fact I would suggest playing that title first before moving on to this one as you can really see where gameplay wise they improved a great system.

Overall Transistor is a fantastic short game that really is worth your time, if you have Playstation plus I would seriously suggest downloading this as soon as possible. Even if you're not the type who enjoys replaying titles or even challenges I do not think you will be disappointed with this game, it would be the perfect title to play if even for an hour every other day just while you're between games.

As always thanks for reading this review, let me know what you thought on Twitter @ScatmanBegins

Dragonball: Episode Of Bardock (OVA: 2011)

 
This week I take a look at another obscurity within the Dragonball franchise titled Episode of Bardock which was originally a spin-off Manga published in 2011 issues of V-Jump by Naho Ooishi who was relatively new to the franchise with only being hired in 2009 and having experience from producing the Manga adaptations of Yo! Son Goku and friends return as well as the Dragon Ball Heroes card game. The original reason for this Mangas creation was actually due to DB Heroes which is a card based arcade game in exclusive to Japan which primarily features a lot of 'what-if' scenarios with one of them being Bardock becoming a Super Saiyan. This Manga set out to explain this 'what-if' scenario in more detail, perhaps as a way to have more people be interested in the game.

In 2011 Bandai along with V-Jump decided to create an animated adaptation of this Manga along with the re-release of The plan to eradicate the Super Saiyans as a part of the SSSS Project, which has been described as a way "to take the first step towards new developments and further expansions of Dragonball titles." This was originally released for streaming online and then later in March 2012 on a disc that came with an issue of V-Jump. Finally it was made avalible to fans worldwide with the release of the Dragonball Z game for Kinect on the Xbox 360, which I'm sure nobody picked up because it was terrible.

As Bardock was such a popular character within the franchise thanks to the TV special featuring him the studio decided it was time for this expansion on his character and his story after his 'death' at the hands of Freeza. The general outline of this story is that after being killed during the destruction of Planet Vegeta Bardock wakes up on a mysterious planet that looks similar to that of Planet Vegeta. As he awakens he soon realises he is being nursed back to health by two small aliens named Ipana and Berry with medicine similar to that used by the Saiyans and Planet Trade organisation.

Shortly after two Space Pirates arrive and claim they are to conquer Planet Plant, cementing that this is indeed Planet Vegeta in the past, Bardock makes short work of them and decides to take off alone. In the next scene a Freeza like being named Chilled (HAH) arrives to the planet and pretends to be the Galactic Police in order to get close to the inhabitants of the planet, he soon finds out his underlings were killed by Bardock and decides to seek him out. Berry begins to suspect that something is amiss here and warns Bardock, however Chilled has already begun to start terrorising the planet, which sends Bardock in to a rage as he remembers the death of his comrades.

Bardock then attacks Chilled after mistaking him for Freeza, Chilled overpowers him at this point and begins to gain the upper hand while stating he is the 'strongest in the Universe' much like Freeza was known to do. As Chilled is about to deliver the finishing blow Berry jumps in the way and takes the hit, causing Bardock to remember the destruction of the Saiyans and thus become a Super Saiyan.
Naturally Bardock lays the smack down on Chilled much to the appreciation of the Plant people and does a typical heroic walk off into the sunset.

We then see Chilled just moments away from death on his ship informing his underlings of the transformed warrior he had just faced known as a Super Saiyan, he then informs them to warn his descendants of this warrior, suggesting that this is how Freeza came to fear the Saiyans and also that Bardock may have been the original Super Saiyan of legend.

Like most of the Dragonball OVA's Toriyama did not have much involvement at all especially in terms of the story, which he was totally absent from, it seems he was only really involved with the design for Chilled as around the time of the Mangas release some concept art was shown in V-jump. Although he was not very involved with the project it would be interesting to see what he thinks of the project as he is a known fan of Bardock and did use him again shortly afterwards in the Jaco Manga.

I really liked the design for Chilled and naturally it followed the style of Freezas first form as it was designed by Toriyama himself, but it also put a spin on it having him be much shorter in appearance than Freeza, yet much more menacing looking thanks to the Orange colour scheme and the twisted almost Devil like horns. Chilled seems to be much more demonic and impish looking when putting him next to his descendent, he also reminds me of Freezas son Kurieza from the Neko Majin Z Manga with his short stature.

I thought Chilled was a pretty decent addition to the DB universe as a way to explain how Freeza came to learn of the legend of the Super Saiyans and why he feared them so much, but I feel like it would have been just as good to have the original Super Saiyan take the role of defeating him rather than Bardock, I just feel the entire use of Bardock in this special is kind of silly. This is partly because It's quite ambiguous as to why Bardock has suddenly woken up in the past.

Time travel is not really a new concept to the franchise with the Android saga featuring it prominently and I think it can work well but it is a tricky subject to work around and to just have it thrown out there that Bardock has suddenly gone back in time with no real explanation really did annoy me, not that this is something they studio have come out and said is 'canon' or is part of the time-line but to have a character who is afflicted with the ability to see the future you would think that they could have worked that in to the OVA as something to do with his sudden time travelling.

I feel as though this story could have just been made to introduce an entirely new Saiyan to us who started off the legend itself by defeating Chilled and it would have had the same effect. I understand that Bardock is a popular character and I'd be lying if I said I did not want to see more of him but I feel that having him suddenly become a 'good guy' in saving a bunch of aliens from a Freeza lookalike and doing some heroic walk off into the sunset is just a little strange for his character. We've always seen Bardock act like a typical Saiyan in that he loves to fight, to kill and to win.

We have seen some examples of him caring with his sending Goku to earth and his love for his wife in Jaco, but I just don't feel like he is the type to care enough about third parties in his battles. It is fair to say he was just acting on his hatred for Freeza at that point but still it is a little strange.

I generally feel pretty mixed on this OVA in that I really love that they are doing all these new projects with the franchise but I feel as though they are creeping closer and closer to fan fiction territory in some cases, especially with the DB Heroes game where everyone can suddenly go Super Saiyan 3 or 4, which is fine in the 'what if' scenarios the games follow  but need to stay away unless explained well in the Manga or Anime format. This is where this OVA fails for me more than anything, it doesn't try to explain anything it just seems to be there for the sake of it being there, for the sake of pleasing some fans who just want to see Bardock go Super Saiyan and just to keep the franchise going.

That is not to say I did not find enjoyment in it at all, I generally liked the fight scene between Bardock and Chilled because it gave us an unhinged Super Saiyan using as much anger as possible to throw Chilled around like a rag doll rather than use any martial arts techniques or constantly use beam attacks, It really did show how Bardocks hatred for Freeza had sent him to a boiling point where he would just explode. It does end in your typical beam struggle fashion but I do like that it didn't actually kill Chilled outright, it let him linger on much like the fight between Goku and Freeza.

I felt Chilled really was the strongest part of this OVA, but I think that may be down to the performance of his Voice Actor Ryūsei Nakao who also voiced Freeza and Cooler, I feel he brings such a menacing and evil portrayal to any villain he plays within the franchise and it really works, especially when you consider that without a voice you're just looking at a small goofy looking imp of a character who really does not look as though he could be the most powerful being in the universe with the command of thousands of underlings and more.

I feel like Chilled did come in to his own slightly too rather than being a copy and paste of  Freeza, yes the same characteristics and motives were there but we almost get this look at a character who has not yet reached the infamy of his descendent and has to resort to much more sneaky and shady tactics in order to get what he wants, such as pretending to be Galactic Police officers in order to get information, rather than just killing civilians outright much like Freeza did on Namek. Overall I believe he was a great addition.

I also enjoyed the animation style used within the OVA, it seemed to be slightly better than Plan to eradicate the Super Saiyans as it used a brighter colour palette and did focus much more on details such as battle damage and backgrounds as well as the fight scenes use of decent choreography involving spins, grabs and throws. I'm clearly no expect on animation but I feel that with every piece of animated media from the franchise from Yo! Son Goku onwards has constantly improved and reached the quality we see in Battle of Gods.

Overall I did find some enjoyment in this OVA with it being a nice excuse to see Bardock again and seeing someone else from Freezas race getting the shit beat out of them. I also enjoyed that it kept to a small 20 minute time frame as the Manga was quite short itself and while I am happy that the franchise during this period did decide to branch out and create a few more animated features I feel as though this is the worst of the bunch, not to say that this is a terrible stain on the franchise but I just personally do not enjoy it anywhere near as much as the other features I've reviewed recently.

I see a lot of people online argue about this being 'canon' to the franchise because it got a Manga adaptation but then again so did DB Heroes but I think the beauty with this franchise is is that there are a bunch of things that are perhaps questionable but it's really up to you if you want to take this as what actually happened or not, personally I just like to keep this as a 'what if' story, but I feel like this franchise has such a wealth of those kind of stories that it just works to have one of them animated, I would even be open to more myself, who wouldn't like to see the return of Tiencha from Budokai 2 right?

I'm still on a huge DB hype at the moment and I will not apologise for it, but thanks for checking this review out, let me know what you thought of it on twitter @Scatmanbegins I'm all for constructive criticism or any feedback at all. See ya next week.

Jaco the Galactic Patrolman by Akira Toriyama (Manga, 2013)

This week I take a look at a relatively new 'one shot' Manga series by Dragonball creator Akira Toriyama titled Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, which follows the story of Jaco and Alien who works for the Galactic Patrolmen and his mission to earth to stop a recently launched Saiyan pod from landing and destroying the human race. Along the way Jaco crash lands and befriends the earthlings while he works to fix his damaged ship and ultimately complete his mission.

Yes that's right, Jaco is set in the same universe as Dragonball and briefly has some cameos with characters from that series, however it if very much it's own story. The best way I could describe it is as Prometheus is to the Alien franchise, in that it is set in the same world, may have the same themes at times and call backs to certain characters and such as the original but is very much a smaller story that may or may not lead in to the events of its predecessor.

The very brief outline of the story after Jaco lands is that he befriends a scientist, Omori who he asks to help him repair his ship, as they slowly begin to bond they decide to go to the local city to pick up some supplies, it is here where they find a young girl, Tights in danger after being cornered by some theives and soon rescue her. After returning to Omori's Island the gang begin to find ways in which they can repair the ship. We soon learn that Tights is going to be sent in to space and unfortunately that her rocket malfunctions leaving Jaco to save her. Because of this heroic feat Tights decides to get her family and the Capsule corporation to help Jaco. After the ship is repaired and Jaco considers his mission complete we are shown a brief overview of the next few years and see Bulma visit the gang before she heads off on her very own adventure to find the 7 dragon balls.

This Manga was originally published weekly in 2013 issues of Weekly Shounen Jump and was written and drawn by Toriyama personally, in mid 2014 it was then released as a collected volume in Japan and finally in the US and UK in January 2015. Described as 'a slightly foolish, fun story... of friendship, and poison.' by Toriyama this was originally supposed to be released around the same time as Battle of Gods but as Toriyama is known for his perfectionism he got quite far behind as he was doing 'most of the work' alone.

In a comment on the Manga left by Toriyama he admittedly states 'There aren’t many action-scenes, and no cool characters appear. It won’t make you emotional, there are no thrills or suspense, and of course, it’s not the sort of wholesome work that will remain in your heart.' He seems to have just wanted the freedom to do a small project of his own much like that of Sandland and even took to using only a computer to produce the work as he wanted a 'picture-book' feel to it. He states he feels as though is it cool that it was being released worldwide but did worry that a lot of Dragonball fans would not enjoy it due to its lack of action and Japanese themes.

It is clear that Toriyama was doing something 'different' with this Manga and whether or not that would be received well was still unclear to him at the time, hopefully with this review I will be able to explain what exactly is different with this series and where its strengths and weaknesses are, but first lets look at the main characters.

We'll start with the titular character Jaco, who is a member of the Galactic patrolmen which is a role that he finds great honour in as he is a 'super elite'. Jaco seems to be modelled on your typical Grey alien with hints of Ultraman about him not only in looks but in his roll as a protector. Jaco Is an interesting character in that he fights for the good of the universe and all of justice, but if he's outmatched or he begins to get annoyed at those who he is protecting he wont hesitate to leave or let the planet be doomed, perhaps this is why he took the job to destory Goku as he knows he is only a child and not a fully grown Saiyan.

This character is the funniest of the three main characters in that he gets rather annoyed at the little things like people being unable to draw his likeness correctly, but also because he is alien and therefore does not get earth customs, one particular part where he shows Tights that he pees from his head by urinating on her and thus missing Goku's ship land on Earth meaning his mission was a waste is probably the funniest part to me.

While he has these moments he is also shown to be a good friend overall and always willing to help out if needed, while he is goofy and does tend to get a lot of things wrong his character is quite refreshing to see and really does carry the cast of this Manga overall, it is easy to see why Toriyama described him as one of his favourite characters he's ever come up with.

Next we move on to Omori who to me was just an okay character I did not really have a problem with him but I really felt like Jaco stole the show. Omori is your typical older guy who has become a loner due to certain circumstances and does not want to be bothered by anyone, this is something we see time and again in films,television and comics so I was pretty happy that Toriyama moved away from that almost instantly with only a few calls backs with Omori saying 'I hate humans' every now and then.

I feel like Toriyama originally wanted to portray Omori as a character similar to that of Mr Fredericksen from UP as we're introduced to him as a widower but this time by his own fault due to creating a time machine and the testing going awry. And although he this does explain his overall grumpiness at the start it is quickly forgotten about, but perhaps this is because Toriyama just wanted to focus on the comedy rather than anything depressing, which would make a lot of sense.

Finally we have Tights who if you had not already guessed with a name like that is Bulmas unheard of older sister and a double for a pop idol who is due to fly in to space to sing because the government thinks it would be a great idea.  We soon learn that she wants to be a sci-fi novelist and has a great interest in anything sci-fi related. We can see examples of this when she finds out that Jaco is not just a kid in a mask but a real alien as she soon forces her way in  to both Jaco and Omori's busines. In this respect she is much like her younger sister who we've seen time and again want to be involved with what the 'a-team' are doing such as going to Namek or wanting to see Freeza when he arrives on Earth.

Tights is quite a likeable character in the same way as Bulma is in that she can actually be useful rather than decoration as we see when she begins to search for and eventually produce the material needed to power Jacos ship. I feel as though her use in the story was needed and she became the balance between Omori's seriousness and Jacos child like nature although I can see why many would feel she is shoehorned in as a link to Dragonball, in a way it is quite simular to the use of Tarble in that they've pretty much thought up an existing characters relation to advance a plot.

But as I've mentioned in other reviews this new expansion of that universe does not particularly bother me and I do welcome it, even if it does slightly change some pre-existing characters or introduce entirely new ones.

There was quite a lot I enjoyed about this Manga, and admittedly I have never really read anything
from Toriyama other than Dragonball and one chapter of Dr Slump but I really did find this refreshing to read, It does retain some original DB charm but at the same time moves in to a comedic tone of it's own with the huge focus on Jaco being an exaggerated Ultraman type hero, you could argue that Tight is a recycled Bulma to some degree but I feel like she bounces off the other characters rather well and in general the cast is pretty good in that regard.

I enjoyed this in its 1 volume format and really don't believe it would work as well as an ongoing series, I have recently picked up some other One-shots from Toriyama and hope they also work well in this format but in Jacos case it really works as a small story that never really had a huge effect on much within the universe it is set in yet that does not mean that it is not a great addition to that world.

I quite enjoyed that this did not particularly focus on any real action save for maybe one or two scenes, from a man famous for his over the top hulking super being battles again this was refreshing, even if it was not in the style of DB in that it focused more on hand to hand battles this Manga worked because it moved away from that area.

The illustrations as always were pretty spot on for a perfectionist like Toriyama and the focus on simple character designs really fit with the tone of this Manga. In all you can tell this is a Manga that Toriyama had a lot of fun with.

As this was only a short story there was not too much that I had a dislike for, other than Omori to some degree. I did find that there was not really too much time to focus on other characters like the government agents who felt like they were meant to be more important than they actually were, some expansion on the Galactic Patrolmen may also have been nice.

People may think that Toriyama is tampering with a series too much at this point and mixing up established facts within that series such as Gokus age as seen in the Dragonball Minus chapter when he lands on Earth and Bulmas sister. However as he wrote it it's something they have to consider as the facts, and while some little things like that do make me think if they were necessary, a lot of the fan community does seem to really dislike it, but I think Toriyama knew this when writing it.

Overall this Manga was quite good, it was nothing amazing in terms of story telling but it felt like something Toriyama would write due to it feeling like the original Dr Slump and Dragonball Mangas as there was some action but overall it is a comedy based story. I think it is pretty cool that Toriyama is expanding on his universes like this as he has done in that past with SandLand also being set in the DB universe, in fact I'm pretty sure the majority of his Mangas do share that universe.

This was definitely refreshing to read for myself as I haven't really read a proper physical Manga in at least 5 years and to have one be purely comedic rather than the like of Berserk and other Mangas I usually read was great, I've certainly thought about ordering some other comedic titles because of it and hope to find something with a similar style.

I would recommend this Manga to anyone who is just looking for a short read, primarily a DB fan of course as it does have a lot of references etc, but I think those who have no knowledge of DB could find some enjoyment out of this for sure. It's just great that we actually got this released in the West and for such a cheap price (in the UK at least) I think you'd be missing out if you did not pick this up at some point.

But we're not done... There was a small extra story included with this Manga, one a lot of fans of DB were probably a lot more interested in.

With the official Mangas release came a  very short (around 6 or so pages) bonus chapter titled Dragonball Minus Which is set around the same time as the Father of Goku TV special and just prior to Jaco. It follows the now slightly changed story of when Goku was sent away from planet Vegeta and also introduces his mother Gine, some examples of Saiyans who are not warriors and the Saiyans knowledge of the Super Saiyan God legend.

The story beings with Bardock returning home after a mission  after Freeza demands that all Saiyans return back to planet Vegeta, Bardock believes there to be something more to this especially when he is told that Freeza has been asking about the legend of the Super Saiyan and the Super Saiyan God. Soon after this Freeza decides in a months time he will destroy the planet as he does not want a potential uprising.

We then see Bardock in a way we've not really seen any pure blooded Saiyans act on their own planet and that is as a proper sort of Husband role in that he returns to his 'wife' and child while the narrator explains as a warmongering race it is quite difficult for them to reproduce. Bardock rather suddenly decides he wants his son to be sent off of planet Vegeta immediately for his own safety as he believes Freeza is up to something.

We find out that it was actually Bardock who programmed Gokus pod for Earth and that Gine was the one to inform Raditz of his whereabouts. As Goku leaves we see his parents look up at the sky and warn him of the Galactic Patrolmen and as this is happening we see Jaco take off for Earth to stop Goku.

Overall I did not mind this chapter but I did find it a bit odd that it did not try to work its way in to the popular Bardock TV special as I felt that almost perfectly set up a good run down to the destruction of planet Vegeta. I feel as though Toriyama could have used a little more time on this chapter rather than just showing Bardock suddenly decide to send Goku away in the span of one panel, he could have easily set this during the TV special and had Bardocks visions be the leading factor in to these decisions and that would not have taken away the introduction of Gine or anything else from this chapter.

I think what is most interesting about this chapter is that slightly changes some parts of Gokus origin such as his age actually being around three years old as he has been in incubation, Bardock being the one to personally send him along with Gine and perhaps Gine being a 'good natured Saiyan' which suggests that perhaps Goku actually got the way he acts from his mothers side as it was apparently not as uncommon as we were lead to believe that a Saiyan could be good natured. But of course this does not change that fact that Goku bumped his head as a child.

While you could argue that of course the special was not specifically made by Toriyama and he only did character designs and some pointers on the plot, it is clear by his decision to add a brief cameo of Bardock in the Freeza saga of the Manga that he did the special or at least the story it presented. Of course as he produced this chapter we sort of have to take this as exactly what happened, but I'm such a huge fan of the TV special I just like to think of this as an accomplice to that even if there are certain contrasts.

I believe that because the TV special is so popular amongst fan that it is no surprise a lot of fans had slight issues with this chapter and found it to be Toriyama meddling with things just to better connect them to the new movie or to boost the sales of a new manga, but then again they released a OVA recently where Bardock was somehow sent to the past and went super Saiyan against freezas descendent, thus starting the fear in that family towards them and this was something that was not written by Toriyama, so I believe this is quite tame when put against something like that.

Overall I did not mind this chapter and felt it was a nice little expansion to the franchise and the Jaco storyline, It was nice to get an idea of who Gokus mother actually was and have a slight expansion on the Father of Goku storyline but I think I enjoyed it more because it was a chance for Toriyama to actually have a little go at using a character from a special that he did not really create, he was always been a fan of this character so it was enjoyable to see his spin on events, maybe it did not work out as well as the fans has hoped but it has its charm in its own little way.

Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans (OVA Remake, 2010)

This week because I'm still on a major Dragonball hype we take a look at a bit of an oddity within the Dragonball franchise, an OVA originally titled Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans which was originally released in 1993, re-released in 94 and then totally remade in 2010. Although each version has slight differences in the way the story is presented the general storyline  remains the same and is quite interesting due to its look at the past of the Saiyans and their planet Vegeta.

The plot begins with a brief history of the Saiyans arriving on the then Planet Plant, originally the home of the Tuffle race, we soon see that the Saiyans began to exterminate the Tuffles, steal their technology such as scouters and eventually conquer their planet. We eventually see that there was a survivor of this attack named Dr Raichi who uses his super computer Hatchiyack to contain the hatred from the Tuffle race. Before he can use the machine however he is weakened from the battle and must escape to the edge of the galaxy, vowing revenge upon the Saiyans.

After many years we see Raichi now in a more alien looking form state his machine is finally ready to extract revenge, he soon locates the last remaining Saiyans on Earth and sends some 'Destron Gas Machines' to the planet which will soon kill the entire human race. With these Gas emitters located across the planet the Z fighters soon find out and begin to destroy them, eventually they reach the final emitter only to find four old enemies waiting for them, Freeza, Cooler, Lord Slug and Turles.

After a short battle they see that each of these enemies is made from the Gas and is therefore immortal, interestingly it is Bulma who rescues them when she creates an agent that stops the gas. The gang now know they have to locate the culprit and because this remake is a shorter version we suddenly see them skip to an unknown planet where Raichi is located.

After making quick work of Raichi we see the super computer taken a physical form and begin to get the upper hand on everyone, with Goku even commenting that he may be much stronger than Broly, after a one sided battle Goku learns that Hatchiyack is left completely open to attack after he uses his Revenge Cannon and with a perfectly timed attack from everyone they finally destroy him and the planet he was on, returning home.

As you can see from that short summary this version of the OVA is rather concise and does tend to rush through the original hour long story but it is still very much worth a watch and has an interesting history behind it which we're going to take a brief look at.

Originally this OVA was released in 1993 on two VHS cassettes as a 'visual guide' to the Famicom game of the same name and served as an animated walk-through of the game. This is pretty interesting as to this day I have never heard an example of an animated walk-through other than this, perhaps it was a way in which to make sure guides would be sold for this game and perhaps many who actually did not own the game still picked up this VHS as it was a fully voice acted and animated feature.

Following this games popularity and the release of Bandai Playdia console the OVA was split in to two separate games, Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Shin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku -Chikyū-Hen and  Uchū-Hen, meaning the earth chapter and space chapter. This was done as the Playdia console was more a home entertainment system for younger children with the majority of its releases being anime themes quiz's with educational value in which the player would press a button and see a FMV play out.

Now I remember a number of years ago there would always be this 'lost movie' of Dragonball and you'd find a 'fan edit' of sorts made up of parts from the Original VHS' and Playdia consoles release of the OVA. From what I can find as there were many options in the Playdia versions of the game resulting in bad endings some people would release a version comprised of the main story and release it for download on sites like Limewire (remember that one!). Because most Western fans were not aware of any Famicom or Playdia game relating to this they assumed it was just another one of the films released for the series but like myself they just had to have it.

If they were anything like myself they would have found a really low quality and poorly subbed version of the OVA, I can remember thinking it was a really cool piece of the franchise because it was so obscure. It's fair to say there was never any reference to this OVA again outside of it's release in the Japanese dragonbox collection in 2003 and a few foot notes in reference material. As it is so obscure there is not much information on how much involvement, if any Toriyama had in the project, I can imagine it was like most of the films in that he may have given some direction on what to do with the Tuffles as he did in the Z series and perhaps some character designs here and there.

The OVA was not really heard of or expanded upon at all after 2003 until the release of the Xbox 360 and Ps3 game Dragon ball: Raging Blast 2 in 2011, I cannot seem to find a concrete reason as to why they decided to reanimate this but regardless I think it was a great way to show not only Japanese fans but fans around the world something new and something they may never have heard of, I feel like the Dragonball universe really has expanded this way a lot recently with Episode of Bardock being released as a Manga and OVA, the new films and Jaco the galactic Patrolman. I honestly don't want it to end, Id love for them to continue this trend.

Interestingly a similar storyline incorporating the last remaining Tuffle storyline is shown in Dragonball GT, much like this OVA we see that the Tuffles created a Machine/Tuffle Hybrid creature named 'Baby' to extract revenge on the Saiyans. Whether or not this saga was inspired by this OVA or just wanted to use the existing Tuffle and Saiyan history is hard to say but we can see clear correlations between the two. Personally I can find some enjoyment in GT because at the start it has the charm and adventure feel of the original series but I did find the Baby Saga overall to be pretty weak other than a few episodes, so I would much rather have this OVA as a representation of a Tuffle based threat to the protagonists, especially as it does not involve the tired formula of Vegeta being turned evil.

What I did enjoy about this was that you can kind of see why Dr Raichi wants to have revenge, his entire planet was taken from him and every member of his race was killed, it's not like he just wanted to kill, to conquer and enslave like Freeza or even because he wants to be the strongest being in the universe, he generally has a motive and reason to attack the Saiyans. While we can argue that the being we see in the film is not actually him but a Ghost warrior representation by Hatchiyack that's gone a little haywire the motive still stands.

I also enjoyed the use of  movie characters such as Slug and Turles who we have never really seen much outside of their respective films, although they turn out to be ghosts it is still nice to see them return, especially in the case of Freeza and Cooler who we have never seen interact at all, although they have been resurrected in some form as seen in the twelth movie and in Freezas case the soon to be release Revival of F. It is also pretty odd to see Freeza working with a Saiyan who looks like Goku, even if it is not really him.

I do believe that this remake is the better version of the OVA to watch not only for its decent animation and because it is much more easily avalible but because it cuts out a lot of the unimportant factors of the original such as the gang splitting up and fighting random looking monsters defending the numerous machines across the world. However the remade version is only thirty minutes long which some people may prefer but I honestly would have liked it to be a bit longer and maybe have the fights last longer but I still enjoy it for what it is.

I actually really enjoyed the designs of the two new villains with Raichi looking quite similar to Dr Myuu and the machine mutants from GT with a more organic mutated humanoid look, his outfit was a little wacky however, I would have liked to see him do more rather than just use a shield constantly thinking that would be alright.

Hatchiyack was a design I really did enjoy because it was rather simplistic instead of giving him horns, a tail and all sorts of other appendages he was just a big dude with a few gem looking parts around him, although I feel like the older version of the OVA coloured him a lot darker which I did prefer to the more pinkish colour we see in this version, overall I thought he looked pretty good. I am aware that in the older version Hatchiyack does have a 'final form' of sorts where he just looks beefier with protruding shoulders and a lot more gems across his body and i'm glad they left that out of this, I felt it looked a little dumb but perhaps if they did include it it would make for a longer OVA overall.

While there is a lot I did enjoy about this OVA there were some things I believe could have been improved, such as the pacing. When we move from act to act rather than showing the characters locating an enemy or making their journey or even discussing where they need to go we just see a brief fade to black and then the next act for example when they realise they need to locate Raichi the next scene is them suddenly there rather than even having something as simple as Goku locating his Ki and teleporting there with everyone, which we know he can do as he does so in order to return home.

I did feel he fights were a little lacking and the main villain only seemed to have the one attack that he would just continue to use over and over, I can't quite remember if he did use more in the older version of the OVA but for this one they really could have improved on him a little in that respect.

Overall I think this is a great little OVA to watch if you have the time, it's not too long but it's also not super important either, I think it's most interesting because of the History behind it rather than the content itself but it does make for a good inclusion of new characters as we've seen from its inclusion with Raging Blast 2. I think this also stands to show how committed Toei have become to the fans worldwide by releasing this to the rest of the world for the first time, it seems they really understand how important this Anime is across the globe and while they may just be capitalising on that popularity at least it means we as the fans can continue to get new content so many years after the show was over.


Thanks for checking this review out, sorry it was a little later than usual.

Next week: I dont even know yet

Dragon Ball Z: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! (OVA Special 2008)

This week we take a look at a short Dragonball Z OVA produced in 2008 to celebrate 40 years of Weekly Shonen Jump, this OVA takes a more comical approach than what we're used to in terms of Dragonball Z Movie's and Specials and revolves around Goku and his friends. Set two years after the defeat of Kid Buu the Z fighters meet for a party arranged by Mr Satan to celebrate the grand opening of his new hotel, which was gifted to him for taming Buu. During this time of peace we see that Goku and his family have become Radish farmers and Goku has been itching for a fight, which is great because luckily for him two new fighters are on their way.

As the party continues we suddenly see the arrival of a spaceship and meet a new Saiyan who actually turns out to be Vegeta's brother, originally deemed too much of a low class warrior to be royalty and sent away to a planet much like Goku was. Tarble acts much like Goku in that he is kind and gentle, which is not something we've seen from many other Saiyans until the recent release of the Dragonball Minus chapter which shows us Goku's mother and explains that there were such things as gentle Saiyans.

We soon find out that Tarble was seeking Vegeta out to help him defeat a threat in the from of two of Freeza's old henchmen Abo and Kado. These two are a sort of tag team who have now reached a power level closer to Freeza's, who both Vegeta and Goku know they will have no trouble with, so they decide to let Goten and Trunks take them out. After a short battle both teams fuse in order to finsh the battle off however Gotenks loses for reasons unknown to me, meaning it's up to Goku who makes short work of them.

Like the majority of villains within the series, Abo and Cado are then invited to join the party, which is something that also happens with Beerus in Battle Of Gods. This is particularly interesting as the setting is also very similar to the setting of that movie. Perhaps Toriyama, who was not involved with this OVA other than the basic concept, used this setting for inspiration during his work on Battle of gods, it could be argued that he also used the idea of the remnants of Freeza's army still being around as inspiration for the soon to be released movie Revival of F.

I generally enjoyed this OVA as it finally gave us something new for the series after so long outside of the video games, I felt that excitement of coming home from school just to watch a new episode all over again when this was released, it really did give me a huge feeling of nostalgia, so I am perhaps biased in this review in that I cannot really find a fault with it however I can see some aspects which certain fans may have had a problem with.

What I really enjoyed about the short and found interesting was that the Animation style seems to follow the colour palette and style of the original Manga rather than the series itself, this is particularly clear in the way the backgrounds are presented. Perhaps this is because the special is specifically in relation to weekly Shonen Jumps anniversary or perhaps it was just a new take they were trying as there had not been any 'canon' Dragonball related features for a number of years at that point.

Regardless of the reasoning the animation presented throughout the short was a treat to any Dragonball fan at the time, I am generally not a fan of more modern Anime's style in that they all seem rather bland with little to no shading save for a select few such as Jojos bizzarre adventure, but this short really does seem to make use of a new modern style of animating in a great way and from what I've seen of the new movie it really does seem like this is the bridging gap between the series and the style used within Battle of Gods.

It was also great just to see characters like Launch, again if only for a moment as it seemed like Toriyama forgot about her and a lot of the older Z fighters after the Saiyan saga, which is understandable as characters like Yamcha and co could notreally compete with the likes of a Super Saiyan. As I originally watched the show as a child this though never really bothered me as I did not know the history of those characters, but after re-watching the original Dragonball you can see how important these characters used to be.

To have these characters seemingly relegated to a supporting cast was really disheartening to see after the Saiyan saga, I even appreciated filler episodes where they would train with King Kai and fight the Ginyu force. It is a shame that Tien is absent in this short even when appearing on its promotional poster as unfortunately his Japanese voice actor had recently passed away, regardless however it is quite enjoyable just to see that even though a lot of these characters do not have too much relevance to the story, they are not forgotten in this short as well as Battle of Gods

I think what I really enjoyed about this short was that it had this original Dragonball tone to it in that it was a bit of fun and did not take itself  too seriously, with many comedic moments and even fan calls outs like Goku saying in hindsight compared to all they've been through Freeza was not much of an opponent. I know a lot of fans had quite a few problems with the tone taken in this short, especially with elements like Vegeta's as of then unheard of Brother Tarble, who is a weak excuse for a Saiyan of royal blood and was exiled.

I think a lot of fans got in to this series with Z and really found it to be more of a serious show overall, which is fair to say with the constant battles going on within the show and the stronger and stronger enemies, with little bits of comedy interspersed when possible. People tend to forget that if you look back to the original Dragonball the series had huge amounts of comedic elements right from the get go with Pilaf's gang, Oolong and Goku's general Hick attitude, it was much like Toriyama's previous work Dr Slump in that it heavily relied on these values.

I feel the introduction of a character like Tarble really uses those elements in that yeah its really stupid and maybe messes with what you perceive as 'canon', but that's what Dragonball was like, it can introduce characters whenever it feels like, they can be as strong or weak as you like and they can even be entwined in a characters past, but it does not matter, it does not take away what makes the series special in anyway, it just adds to it.

Perhaps I say this because it was my first Anime and I watched it from when I was about 8 year old, it really did shape a lot of stuff for me and I think no matter what they add to the story over the years, I'll continue to eat it up I even like to check back with that Dragonball Heroes arcade game just to see all the crazy what if characters they come up with like adult Gotenks and stuff (which is animated if you want to check it out on youtube). There always seems to be this idea that any change to something you used to watch as a child is 'Ruining your childhood', but I think you've got to keep an open mind in some respects, especially in the case of this series.

I think the use of the original Z Opening song was a great addition, as well as it visually mirroring the original opening but in a more updated fashion with the inclusion of Vegeta, Trunk and co it was really charming to see, not only for myself who has been a Dragon ball fan since it originally aired in the UK, but also for those fans who began watching during its original run in Japan, truly this special had the correct tone in celebrating Weekly Shonen Jumps 40th anniversary by taking one of its most popular series and using that as a way to boost the nostalgia factor of the celebration for many.

Although the Ending uses a new song, 'Orange Hero' by Jealkb it makes use of nostalgic imagery by showing a short montage of Kid Goku, his meeting with Chichi and then the expansion of his family over the course of Z which just brought a smile to my face to see how far Goku had come over the course of the original series as well as Z. The song is also really catchy which always helps, although I don't believe there was ever a full version released.

Overall this short is a nice fun little look at what life has been like for the Z fighters and a great little nostalgia booster if you have notwatched the series in a long time. Id say it's a really great thing to watch before you see Battle Of Gods which Im going to do shortly. It almost makes you want to have a whole new series, but perhaps with the new movies being released this will be the extension we were hoping for, I believe a bunch of movies would probably fair better than an entire new series any way, but who am I kidding if they were to release a new series id watch it all and i'm sure a lot of you would too!.

As always thanks for reading this, sorry it was a little shorter this week, at least it wasnt Gundam related right!?